The AI mortgage platform says its ousted founder lacks the votes to reclaim the CEO seat
Better Home & Finance Holding Company has publicly demanded that its ousted founder, Vishal Garg, abandon his push to reclaim the CEO role and reconstitute the company's board, saying he has fallen short of the shareholder support required to force the change.
In a statement issued August 18, the company said that Garg, removed as chief executive on August 3 by a unanimous board vote taken without his participation, had since launched what it called "a costly and distracting campaign" to reverse that decision.
The company said Garg initially accepted the transition but had subsequently moved to solicit shareholder backing to replace a majority of directors, claiming he had secured enough voting power to act.
Better disputes that account. Despite Garg holding substantial voting power through his Class B super-voting shares, the company said he does not have the votes required to implement the board change.
Better's statement also alleged that his shareholder solicitation contained misrepresentations and "clearly violates federal securities laws," a charge Garg has publicly dismissed as "conjecture."
A record defined by losses
Central to Better's case against Garg is its financial track record under his leadership. The company cited more than $1.5 billion in cumulative GAAP net losses since 2022 and a publicly traded share price that declined more than 90% during his tenure.
Separately, Better's board noted that Garg himself had told directors the company would have been better off had the capital raised under his leadership been invested in US Treasury securities rather than deployed operationally, a comment Garg later attributed to frustration with broader mortgage market conditions.
Better separately accused Garg of refusing to execute mandatory representation letters required for the company to file its Form 10-Q with the SEC, calling the refusal the "sole cause" of the delayed quarterly filing.
Garg has disputed this characterization. Multiple shareholder rights law firms have since opened investigations into potential securities disclosures linked to the leadership dispute, as reported in our coverage of Garg's bid to reclaim the board.
What brokers stand to watch
The boardroom battle arrives as Better reports improving production figures. Funded loan volume reached $1.67 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 38% year over year, according to the company's preliminary results.
Better has simultaneously been pivoting away from direct-to-consumer acquisition toward a partner-led model, a shift with direct implications for the independent broker channel it has been targeting as a distribution layer for its Tinman AI origination platform.
The outcome of the governance dispute may determine whether that strategy continues under interim chief executive Daniel Lewis or pivots again under renewed Garg leadership.
Brokers evaluating Better as a platform partner should note that the company's model has historically shifted significantly with each leadership transition.
Better said in its statement that shareholders do not need to take any action at this time.
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